Introduction:

The FY06 Budget Debate in Context

On January 26, 2005, the Romney administration released House 1 for Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06), its state budget recommendations for the new fiscal year that will begin on July 1, 2005. This annual piece of legislation is commonly referred to as "House 1" or simply H1, as in "H1 for FY06," which is how we will refer to it throughout this report.

The release of H1 for FY06 is the first step in a long process that will determine the actual state budget for FY06. The governor's budget has now been referred to the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives. Both the House and the Senate will soon have debates to determine their own budget recommendations for FY06-that may differ in many ways from the governor's original recommendations.

This first People First report for the FY06 budget debate cycle examines the H1 for FY06 recommendations for disability services. The second People First report for FY06 will examine the recommendations made by the House Ways and Means Committee in April. The third People First report for FY06 will examine the critical decisions on disability issues to be made in June by the Joint House/Senate Conference Committee. The Conference Committee is charged with reconciling differences between the House and the Senate budgets for FY06. And-new this year-will be a fourth People First report (available electronically only) to examine the governor's veto message to the General Court and recommend overrides necessary to best support disability services.

People First provides a disability analysis of the state's proposed budgets to assist individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, and other advocates. People First also provides information for state legislators and other decisionmakers, to educate them about the important disability programs funded through the state budget. To help create better outcomes for persons with disabilities, people concerned about disability services can participate in this budget debate through regular contact with their own state representatives and state senators. Please see the "Guide for New Readers" chapter for more information on how to express your concerns to elected officials.

Questions of Revenue-Shifting Ground

The budget debate takes place on shifting ground this year. State revenue projections have been improving over the last couple of months, but a structural deficit-of as much as $1 billion-is anticipated to continue in FY06. Much will depend on how well the economy continues to perform and how the legislature chooses to handle reserve spending, borrowing, and tax initiatives (new taxes? tax rollbacks? closing corporate tax loopholes?).

The creation of the FY06 budget involves a combination of revenue (what money do we have?), legal mandates (where must the state spend its money?), and discretionary spending (under which most disability services are funded).

The administration has proposed to roll back the state income tax from 5.3% to 5.0%, a reduction that the Mass. Budget and Policy Center (MBPC) has estimated would cost the state $596 million in FY06. Meanwhile, the Urban Institute has estimated that $596 million is more than the amount needed to provide all of the state's uninsured with health coverage. Advocates remind us that the state budget crisis itself has not been the result of overspending. Instead, the budget crisis has been the consequence of tax cuts issued during the 1990s that created a structural budget gap-an ongoing mismatch between revenue and expenditure needs- amounting to $3 billion.

 

FY05-It Could Have Been Worse

The FY05 budget was better for human services than the budgets of the previous three years. The legislature overrode $96.5 million of the governor's $108.5 million in vetoes. The overrides meant the preservation and limited expansion of some important initiatives, most notably $20 million for the direct care worker salary reserve and $5 million for co-pay assistance for Prescription Advantage (pharmacy assistance to seniors). The FY05 supplemental budget passed in September also returned $32.8 million to the Mass. Department of Public Health (MDPH), preventing, in part, a crisis for the HIV Drug Assistance Program and a dramatic loss in federal matching funds for substance abuse services. The supplemental budget also provided $4 million to restore MassHealth coverage for 3,000 elderly and disabled legal immigrants.

These steps did little towards restoring the hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to human services over the previous three years. Between 460,000-600,000 Massachusetts residents now lack any health insurance, and 550,000 adults enrolled in MassHealth have received no dental benefits or eyeglasses (or other vision services) for two years. Indeed, as a result of systemic cuts, thousands of vulnerable state residents now cannot meet very basic needs.

FY06-New Leadership, New Committees, New Hope. . . and Concern

Important to the context of the FY06 budget debate is a new House Speaker, Rep. Salvatore F. DiMasi (D. Boston), and an entirely new legislative committee structure. Long-time disability advocates are hopeful that the new leadership (see Figure 1) and the expanded committee structure will bring fresh air to lawmaking in Massachusetts.

Figure 1

LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP
SENATE		HOUSE
President	Robert E. Travaglini	Speaker, Majority Leader	Salvatore F. DiMasi
President Pro Tempore	Stanley C. Rosenberg	Speaker Pro Tempore	Thomas M. Petrolati
Majority Leader	Frederick E. Berry	Majority Leader	John H. Rogers
Assistant Majority Leader	Marian Walsh	Assistant Majority Leader	Lida E. Harkins
Majority Whip	Joan Menard	Second Assistant Majority Leader	Byron Rushing
Assistant Majority Whip	Robert A. Haven, III	Minority Leader	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.

The Joint Committee on Human Services and Elder Affairs is dismantled. All told, 11 legislative committees have been expanded to become 15 under the newly announced structure (see Figure 2). The joint Health Care Committee is also gone. Covering health and human services are the following committees: Health Care Financing, Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Public Health, Children and Families, and Elder Affairs.

Of great concern to disability advocates is the absence of a committee specific to people with disabilities. Indeed, the creation of the committee structure without such a designation is a disturbing oversight inasmuch as the new committees reflect fresh state priorities. Disability-related bills presumably will be sent to the Committee for Children and Families. The Arc of Massachusetts, in coalition with the Disability Policy Consortium and other groups, has called for the creation of a "Committee on Disabilities, Community Services, and Long-Term Supports." The House and Senate leadership has stated their confidence in the Children and Families Committee's competency to cover the breadth of concerns.

Figure 2

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
LEVEL	OLD	NEW
Joint
	·  Health Care	·   Health Care Financing House Chair Walrath House Vice Chair Marzilli Senate Chair Moore Senate Vice Chair Tolman
		·    Mental Health and Substance Abuse House Chair Balser House Vice Chair Malia Senate Chair Tolman Senate Vice Chair Antonioni
		·   Public Health House Chair Koutoujian House Vice Chair Walsh Senate Chair Fargo Senate Vice Chair Creem
	·    Human Services and Elderly Affairs	·   Children and Families House Chair Owens-Hicks House Vice Chair LeDuc
		·   Elder Affairs House Chair Correia House Vice Chair Jehlen Senate Chair Tucker Senate Vice Chair Nuciforo
	·    Housing and Urban Development	·   Housing House Chair Honan House Vice Chair Fennell Senate Chair Joyce Senate Vice Chair O'Leary

(Figure 2 continues on next page)

Figure 2, continued

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
LEVEL	OLD	NEW
Joint
	·    Education, Arts and Humanities	·   Elementary and Secondary Education House Chair Haddad House Vice Chair Creedon Senate Chair Antonioni Senate Vice Chair Augustus
		·   Higher Education House Chair Murphy House Vice Chair Naughton Senate Chair O'Leary Senate Vice Chair Panagiotakos
	·    Criminal Justice	-----
	·  Taxation	·    Revenue House Chair Binienda House Vice Chair Coughlin Senate Chair Creem Senate Vice Chair Joyce
	·  Commerce and Labor	·    Labor and Workforce Development House Chair Rodrigues House Vice Chair Leary Senate Chair McGee Senate Vice Chair Resor
		·    Community Development and Small Business House Chair Torrisi House Vice Chair Keenan
		·    Economic Development and Emerging Technology House Chair Bosley House Vice Chair Sanchez Senate Chair Hart Senate Vice Chair Montigny
	·  Judiciary	·    Judiciary House Chair O'Flaherty House Vice Chair Bradley Senate Chair Creedon Senate Vice Chair Baddour
Senate
	·  Ways and Means	·    Ways and Means Chair Murray Vice Chair Panagiotakos Assistant Vice Chair Tolman
House
	·  Ways and Means	·    Ways and Means Chair DeLeo Vice Chair St. Fleur Assistant Vice Chair Vallee
	·  Medicaid	-----